This is your resource for exploring various topics in glass: delve deeper with this collection of articles, multimedia, and virtual books all about glass. Content is frequently added to the area, so check back for new items. If you have a topic you'd like to see covered, send us your suggestion. If you have a specific question, Ask a Glass Question at our Rakow Research Library.

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Joe and Louise Maio (husband and wife) discuss their employment at the Corning Museum of Glass, the changes they've seen in their 40 years of employment at the Museum, and the flood of 1972. Filmed August 2012. The Rakow Research Library’s Conversation Series features the stories of people

Clyde Rathmann reflects on his employment at Corning Glass Works and discusses his involvement and the challenges in producing an 84-inch telescope mirror for an astrophysicist named Aden Meinel. The lens was installed in Kitt Peak, Arizona. Other projects he discusses include his work with the

Stephen Shaw reminisces on his experience, beginning at the age of 18 and working his way up through the ranks of Corning Glass Works to Steuben, and then research and development, eventually leaving and working 19 years for Owens-Illinois before retiring. Filmed September 2015. The Rakow Research

Beth She'arim was a cemetery located in Galilee. It was one of the most sacred places in the ancient Jewish world. Just adjacent to its catacombs is a natural cave that had long ago been made into a large cistern for storing water. It apparently fell into disuse at the end of the 4th century

Working in the Czech Republic, Karen LaMonte casts life-size glass figures using the lost-wax method to create a detailed mold of a carefully chosen dress. “You read aspects of character by the way a person dresses. I started thinking of the human body and its relationship to clothing as a dialogue

Applying contemporary styles to traditional glassblowing techniques, artist Josh Ries taught students in his class how to add colors and decorative techniques to add interest to their glass. Watch this January 30 live stream from the class Next Steps: Building On & Refining Your Foundation. See

Aaron Pexa's work spans multiple mediums, from video and installation to sculpture and performance, and his goal is always to create a sense of bewilderment. He takes everyday environments and subverts them by introducing new artifacts and narratives that stimulate wonder and “bring people out

This video shows the vessel being made in a sequence of steps, one of which includes the use of a full-size blow-mold. The manufacturing process for the lid is then shown. Learn more about this object in The Techniques of Renaissance Venetian-Style Glassworking by William Gudenrath. Between about

This video begins with the making of the different canes and bands required. After these elements are rolled up on the end of a blowpipe, the open-ended cylinder is lined with colorless glass using the sbruffo method. Glassblowing is then employed to make the vessel. The handle is fashioned from

This video shows, first, the four elements of the goblet and a fifth element for the finial of the lid being made and placed in an oven. Next, the assembly process begins. After the foot element has been attached to a pontil, the other parts are added and adhered together using small amounts of

This video shows the three parts—bowl, stem, and foot—attached directly from above without the use of mereses, which are more conventionally employed. Learn more about this object in The Techniques of Renaissance Venetian-Style Glassworking by William Gudenrath Between about 1500 and 1725, Venice

In this video, first the bowl or cup is blown of colorless glass. Next, a series of solid and hollow elements are stacked, interrupted by three straps that create an open-work structure. Tiny raspberry prunts are added, and then a blown foot is attached. Finally, the rim is created while the vessel

This video shows first the two types of required canes being made and arranged in a pattern on a ceramic plate. After the canes are fused together, a thick, cylindrical bubble of glass is rolled over the canes so that they become attached. After reheating, glassblowing is used to make the beaker.

A partly hollow combination merese/avolio construction is added to the tip of a bubble of glass that eventually becomes the bowl (or cup). A complex, multi-part stem and foot are then attached. The vessel is completed while it is held by a pontil. Learn more about this object in The Techniques of

This video shows retortoli canes being made and cut, then placed on a ceramic place-holding plate and then pre-heated. Next, a thick cylindrical bubble of glass is rolled over the canes, thus embedding them in its surface. Glassblowing is then used to make the vessel and its foot. Learn more about

This video shows white canes of a small diameter being made. Next, the pre-heated canes are rolled up on the exterior of a thick-walled, cylindrical bubble of glass. This is then formed into a preliminary stem and foot construction, to be used later in the manufacturing process. The bowl is blown

This video shows the making of the vessel body and a small blown-foot with a folded edge. At the end of the glassblowing processes, a fin-mold is used to transform the upper-half of the vessel and the rim from a round to hexagonal shape. Learn more about this object in The Techniques of Renaissance

An expert on Venetian glass, William Gudenrath taught students in his January 2019 class how to create well-formed and thinly-blown vessel bodies, excellent necks, delicate mereses, and blown feet and stems. In this demo from January 16, Gudenrath shares his knowledge of reticello —a type of blown

See The Grand Bohemian Troupe of Fancy Glass Workers at The Corning Museum of Glass! Over a span of 300 years, traveling flameworkers entertained and educated audiences around the world on the art, s­­cience, and skill of glassmaking. Learn about their lives and witness a modern take on their

Get ready to warm things up with Guest Artist Megan Stelljes in the Amphitheater Hot Shop during January's 2300°. In this demo, Stelljes creates a wine barrel with grapes to compliment the evening's wine tasting theme. See the final object out of the annealer starting at 1:40:51. Stelljes

A pioneer in three-dimensional digital design, artist Fred Kahl is teaching students in his class how to create reusable graphite molds for glass casting. Get an insider’s view into the process during this live stream from the class Design, Carve, Pour on January 9. See the final piece starting at

Watch as flameworker David Sandidge brings his fanciful glass figures to life during this demonstraton on January 11, 2019. See the final work starting at 1:56:20. The Guest Artist Series features world-class visiting artists at work in the Amphitheater Hot Shop. These special, extended

Artist Penelope Rakov was recently an artist-in-residence at The Studio where she focused on making murrine. Now as an instructor at The Studio, Rakov taught her students how to create different styles of murrine and how colors work together. Watch this January 23 live stream from the class Maximum

Traditionally, glassblowing is learned first through observation, then by practice (and more practice!) Glass is a challenging medium and only dedicated glassblowing students will gain true competency to know what to do to achieve a desired design. Boyd Sugiki stands out among glass educators for

America’s Favorite Dish: Celebrating a Century of Pyrex, on view June 6, 2015 through March 17, 2016 celebrates the 100 year anniversary of Pyrex, developed by Corning Glass Works in 1915. Born out of scientific discoveries in glass, and the emerging science of home economics, Pyrex was shaped not

Thousands of different chemical compositions can be made into glass. Different formulas affect the mechanical, electrical, chemical, optical, and thermal properties of the glasses that are produced. There is no single chemical composition that characterizes all glass. Typical glass contains formers

Colorless Glasses in Antiquity Most glass objects of the second and first millennia B.C. were strongly colored, as are the precious stones they were meant to imitate. Those that were not intentionally colored usually had a pronounced greenish tint, owing to the presence of iron impurities

In this video, artist Boyd Sugiki continues his discussion on tumblers and presents a demonstration including how to stretch the form, adjust pressure, straighten, thin and open the lips, and match heights to create a set. This video was produced by Boyd Sugiki in collaboration with The Studio at

In this video, artist Boyd Sugiki discusses creating tumblers by working thinner, the turning speed, temperature and heat, color overlays, even stretching. This video was produced by Boyd Sugiki in collaboration with The Studio at The Corning Museum of Glass.